Featured Answers

W.Q.
answers from
Tulsa
on
February 14, 2009

Hi A.,
There should be a small scar near/behind her belly button. If that's hard to find you can either take her to the vet or wait and see if she goes into heat. My dogs scar is obvious...but then she doesn't have much hair. Good luck.
W.

Usually, if you roll the dog over onto her back and rub gently over her lower abdomen, near her hind legs, you should be able to feel a scar line bump if she was spayed. It might be harder to tell on a smaller dog. Any vet should be able to tell. If you haven't taken her to the vet, I recommend you take her immediately so she can get any shots, heartworm test (treatment can be very expensive if she has it), and on heartworm and flea prevention medication, plus a good physical just in case she has any problems. It's better to find out early before you've grown very attached to her. Good luck. I hope you have many years of joy from your new family member.

You need to take her to the vet. She needs a rabies shot and other vacinations. If she has not been spayed that needs to be done aswell. Its always a good idea to have a new dog checked out at the vet. Enjoy your new member of your family.

Take her to the vet for her vaccs, and have the vet take a look. It is very hard to tell sometimes, and even some vets can't tell (some open up dogs and find they are already spayed after not finding a scar, and others think they see a scar, than a month later the dog goes into heat (or worse, delivers some unexpected puppies!). I've been somewhat of a vet tech for 14 years (I'm not an "official" vet tech - I just do vaccinations, give fluids and meds, etc, for the animals in our all-breed rescue who ALL get spayed/neutered), and I rarely even try to spot a spay scar - I just hand them to the vet.

There can be different bumps and scars on an unspayed dog's tummy, such as their "belly button", or a scar from an umbilical hernia surgery when no spay was performed. On the flip side, a spay can be performed by a vet who uses a very small incision, so it can be missed.

I woke up about 2 minutes ago, so if this doesn't make sense, just read the first sentence and ignore the rest, lol!

Congratulations on your new dog!

Edit: I didn't mean to repeat what Tara said on the vet - I hadn't read it yet. So ditto Tara! =)

Okay, this is easy!! Get your pup on her back and where the belly button is (yes, dogs have belly buttons from their umbilical cords!! people give me weird looks when I say this, lol) look a couple inches under that and there will be a thin white scar. It might be hard to see at first, especially if she is a wiggler. Good Luck! and if all else, you can take her to the vet and he can check, as he knows where to look....congrats on your dog!
ps// did you get her from a person or shop? If so, and they took her to the vet, ask to see her vet records. Being as she is now yours, you should be allowed to see/get a copy of her vet record, and the spay will be on there :) good luck, honey!:)

If you can't find a scar on her abdomen, take her to your vet. S/he will be able to tell if her uterus and ovaries are still present by palpating her abdomen. If she's been spayed, they will be able to feel the stump where the uterus was removed.
You won't be able to feel it unless you know what you're feeling for.

Take her to the vet. If she's not spayed you can get an appointment to get it done while your there,if that's what you want. Otherwise, if she's kept indoors she should eventually come in heat, within 6 months. this is just like a woman's menstrual and can get quite messy, so if you want her spayed, I would suggest the vet visit.

Hi A.,
There should be a small scar near/behind her belly button. If that's hard to find you can either take her to the vet or wait and see if she goes into heat. My dogs scar is obvious...but then she doesn't have much hair. Good luck.
W.

Our 4-year old dog had a little bulge and a dark blue line at first; shortly after, the bulge disappeared and the blue line has faded, but it's still there. Middle-to-low on the belly. Give that shitzu a belly rub and see what you can find :)

PS Please don't use any chemical pest repellents/killers on the dog. This includes flea collars! It all gets around the house. Even the shampoos. You rinse, but plenty stays on them. There are natural (herbal) repellers and you can use an oral flea and tick control; ask your vet. Our dog is outside a lot and she does just fine with Sentinel and the occasional herbal spray.

well, the first thing i did with my newly adopted dog, was to check for a scar on her abdomen. even though, she did have a scar... it was not a spay scar... so i took her to the vet. he was also not sure if she was spayed. fortunately about a week after that appointment (i had already scheduled her spay procedure) she went into her "heat" cycle. which lasts about 3 weeks. you cannot have your pup spayed in an "active" heat. which is about the second and third weeks. you will know if your pup has a "heat" cycle, she is not spayed. i think most veterinarians can assess whether or not a dog has been spayed. well, i hope i offered some help. good luck :)

We had this same problem and had to take her to the vet for an initial exam. She was a stray that adopted us and we made her one of the family. They said the only way to confirm was to look for a scar that would be present in her lower abdominal area. We didn't even know how old she was. They determined no surgery had been performed and took care of it for us. We used a low cost spay/neuter cerificate that saved us a bunch! We're in North Shelby County in Birmingham, AL and most vets allow this. Just something you might want to check on. If you need more info. on this, let me know.